Lingo is a Canadian game show that ran for 439 episodes on Télévision de Radio-Canada across Canada, from 1998 to 2001. It was hosted by longtime actor and radio/TV host Paul Houde. The show's format combined the structure of the game of chance known as bingo with a word guessing game; contestants took turns guessing five-letter words and tried to guess enough of them to fill in enough spaces on a five-by-five card to form a line. Main game The object of the game is to score points by taking five guesses at a mystery five-letter word puzzle. If at any time a team makes a mistake, such as taking too long at a guess, misspelling a word, spelling a word that doesn't exist, spelling a word that is not five letters in length, repeats a word already guessed, or the word does not start with the established first letter, control passes over to the other team, who are given a free letter unless only one is missing. The team that guesses the correct word received $50. Lingo board At the start of the match, both teams receive a Lingo board, with the red team playing with odd numbers and the green team playing with even numbers. 8 numbers are marked off each of their boards. Once a team successfully completes a word puzzle, they get the chance to pull two numbered balls (one per player) out of a hopper. Once they complete their Lingo board, by getting 5 in a row across, up or down, or diagonally, they get $100. If however they pull a black ball from the hopper, they lose their turn and control passes over to the other side. (The black ball is called in French "L'infâme boule noire!", which translates to "infamous black ball".) End of match At some point during the match, a bell rang, signifying the match will end after the current puzzle in play. After the puzzle is solved and two balls pulled out, the team with the most money became the day's champions and goes on to the "No Lingo" bonus game. (The match will also end when either: (A) a team solves the puzzle but cannot make a Lingo as a new board requires Lingo to be made in as few as 3 pulls, or (B) when nobody solves the puzzle.) The runners-up receive a consolation prize. Tiebreaker If the